Elliot

Power. After I walk through the door of the lab, I grab one of the white lab coats hanging and slip it on.

The lab. This is where the real power is and somehow Nick could foresee this.

I can sense the lab has been emptied. None of my geeky assistants are making jokes or sniffling or snacking or smacking on their chewing gum as they usually are.

But people are here. Two people.

I don’t say anything to either them. I head straight to the stash of ingredients I will use to press a new pill.

“Why didn’t you fuck her?” asks Nick.

I grab a black, half face, dual cartridge respirator mask and slip it over my nose and mouth. Don’t wanna breathe in any of this stuff while I’m measuring it out.

“Answer the question, Elliot,” Nick demands and I hear him get off of a stool and walk towards me. Loulah is right behind him, of course. I hear her feet shuffle as he repeats himself, “Why didn’t you fuck her?”

I sigh, “I always suspected you had cameras in the elevators. Did you watch the whole thing?”

“Take that fucking mask off,” he demands coming right up next to me. “I can’t understand a damn thing you’re saying.”

I pull the mask below my chin and look Nick in the eyes. “I asked if you enjoyed the show?”

“I would’ve enjoyed it better if there’d been some penetration and not just some B-rated porn. You didn’t even get your face up in there. I honestly thought the second you saw Charlotte you’d pound and eat that bitch like she was a double quarter-pound burger. And there was nothing standing in your way, man. I always suspected Charlotte liked you. You took the pill and now you have proof. Look at how hard she came on to you. You could’ve easily taken her, fucked her, but you didn’t.”

“So that’s why Charlotte’s here,” I smirk and I look at Loulah. “Were you in on this?”

Loulah fixes her glasses and clutches her clipboard to her chest as she looks to Nick for an answer.

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a wad of cash. Flipping through the bills, he hands her a hundred. “Go get us some coffee,” he instructs.

Loulah nods, taking the bill, and when she turns Nick smacks her on the ass. Hard.

“Hey!” he snaps, “And no fucking tipping. We already pay those people plenty of money.”

I watch Loulah leave. “Why are you such a dick to her?”

Nick crosses his arms and leans back against the counter. “She likes that shit.”

“No, she doesn’t.”

I feel bad for Loulah and I know she doesn’t like Nick treating her poorly. Loulah used to wear pretty bright ensembles that made her strut with a bounce in her step. I remember how jolly it made me feel to see her ponytail swing side-to-side when she’d walk. But over the years, Nick’s abuse has taken its toll. She doesn’t bounce. Her hair hardly swings and she always looks like she’s headed to a funeral dressed in black. It’s honestly sexier than how she used to dress, but still not sexy enough for Nick.

We all know how she feels about him. She’s been crushing on him since the day he walked right into advanced chemistry (where he didn’t belong and I know because I did all of his homework) on the first day of school during freshman year. It’s a bit unfortunate Nick was the one to pull Loulah from the fire. From that day on, she went from being the Cunt Squad’s little bitch to Nick’s bitch and I often wonder how much of her life she really feels she owes him for saving her.

Me, on the other hand, I got my kiss and, although I do feel like I deserved more, it’s not because I saved Charlotte, it’s because I think I’d be good for her.

“Listen,” says Nick. “Girls like bad boys. Why else do you think Lou takes all my shit?”

“She doesn’t like it when you call her that. She prefers Loulah.”

“Lulu. Lala. She doesn’t give a shit what I call her because she’s in love with me and if I ever decide to fuck her, I might—”

“You mean you two have never had sex?” I interject, genuinely surprised.

“Fuck no!” Nick cries, cocking a brow. “She’s a fucking geek. That would be like fucking one of you—brains.” He forces a gag. “I fuck pussies. Sexy, soft, silky, tight, wet pussies.”

“So Loulah’s never seen the inside of the Bank?”

“Hell no! I only take chicks into that room who want to be deposited with more than my cum.”

I shake my head.

“And besides,” he shrugs, “I don’t think Lou’s the kind of girl that could handle one of the nines.”

“Nine Inch Males,” I concur. That’s the name we gave ourselves—NIM. We were the Nine Inch Male geek squad in high school and it cracked us up whenever anyone would call us that, especially since they had no clue what it really stood for. Once, Nick felt he had to brag about his dick size and as it turned out, nine inches of dick was one thing we all had in common besides the desire to rise above the bullying. “Do you think we would’ve been more popular if chicks knew how big we were back in high school?”

“Who gives a shit?! We’re not in high school anymore.”

“Then why did you lure Charlotte here?”

“I don’t know.” Nick bobbles his head. “I thought you might like a bonus after all your hard work over the years.”

My stomach twists. “That’s really why you offered Charlotte a job? You read the data on the last set of tests and you thought if I saw her, I would down the Bang because we are months, maybe years, away from being approved for human testing—if we’re ever even allowed to conduct human tests.”

Nick sways looking up at the ceiling. Hopefully, he recognizes for himself there’s no halo, only horns up there. “Okay,” he admits, “I might’ve had Lou call Charlotte—”

I grab his neck and choke him.

“What the fu—uck, man?” he mumbles. “I knew the Bang would wo—ork. You wouldn’t have taken it if you didn’t think it woo—would.”

I grip his neck tighter and Nick pops me in the face.

“Ah fuck!” I cry out, letting go of him to pad my throbbing eye with my palm, which makes me feel better. It still smells like Charlotte, like her sex.

“You know, Elliot, if you had shown this side of you to that girl back in high school, I do believe she would’ve laid herself under you.”

“I was a dork and a skinny geek back then. She was beautiful. There was no way.”

“Yeah, well, you heard what she said in the elevator. She thought you were the one too good for her. But it doesn’t matter how you look now—whether she thinks you’re a handsome fucker or not, which I admit you’ve gotten prettier.” He laughs. “We both know you’re still a geek and a dork.”

  I remove my hand from my eye and sniff my palm. Nick catches me and we are both laughing.

“Listen,” he says, “if you don’t want Charlotte to stay—”

“Of course, I want her to stay.”

Nick puts his hands in his pocket and shrugs. “I’m just sayin’ if you want I can hook Charlotte up with a job at—”

“She belongs with NIM.”

Nick smiles. “With NIM? Or with you? Do you have any intention of telling her who you really are anytime soon or are you planning to bang her a few times first just in case the test results weren’t exactly accurate?”

I look at some of the ingredients I have sprawled across the counter when we are interrupted by the banging of the lab doors flying open. It’s Loulah with our coffee.

She smiles halfheartedly as she hands Nick his cup, but he’s not really paying attention to her. He yelps as he bumps her, causing some of the hot liquid to pour over his fingertips, creating some steam.

“Fuck, Lou!” he shouts.

She scurries to grab a paper towel and brings it back to wipe his hand for him. He gives her a cross look, but when he looks up at me, he smiles and winks.

Motherfucker. Maybe he’s right. Maybe I’ve been going about this all wrong. Maybe I should’ve been fucking with Charlotte instead of allowing her to fuck with my mind all my life.

I flip over a few beakers.

“So, you’re gonna bang her first?” Nick inquires. I turn to see him nudge Loulah away. “Good choice, Mr. Nine,” he says. “Just make sure I get a couple of those pills you’re about to make. At least a few dozen. I’d like to know if any of these chicks hanging around are really into me or just the money.”